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How Do We Treat Shul?

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How Do We Treat Shul? בס"ד From Beit Ha-Mikdash to Mikdash Me’at: How Do We Treat Shul? This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA Rabbi Judah Kerbel Queens Jewish Center י"ג אב תשע"ט/August 14, 2019 I. The Source for Comparing Beit Ha-Mikdash and Beit Ha-Kenesset 1. שמות פרק כה פסוק ח ו עָׂשּו לִי מִ ק דָ ׁש ו ׁשָ כ נ יתִ ב תֹוכָם: רש"י - ועשו לי מקדש - ועשו לשמי בית קדושה: 1. Exodus 25:8 And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. Rashi - Make for my name a house of holiness. 2. יחזקאל פרק יא פסוק טז לָכֵן אֱ מֹר כֹה אָמ ר אֲ דֹנָי י קֹוִ ק כִ י הִר ח קתִ ים ב ּגֹויִםו כִ יהֲפִ יצֹותִ ים בָאֲרָ צֹות וָאֱהִ ילָהֶ ם לְמִקְדָׁשמְ עַט בָאֲרָ צֹות ראֲׁשֶ בָאּו ׁשָ ם: רש"י - למקדש מעט - לבתי כנישתא דאינון יתבין תניין לבית מקדשא: מצודת דוד - ר"ל אשרה שכינתי בבתי הכנסיות שלהם ועם כי רחקו מן מקדשי שהוא המקדש הגדול אשר בירושלים יהיה להם במקומו מקדש מעט: 2. Ezekiel 11:16 Say then: Thus said the Lord GOD: I have indeed removed them far among the nations and have scattered them among the countries, and I have become to them a little sanctuary in the countries whither they have gone. Rashi – “little sanctuary” – synagogues that they dwell in are compared to the Beit Ha-Mikdash. Metzudat David – meaning I will rest my presence in their synagogues, and when My sanctuary in Jerusalem, the bigger sanctuary, is too far away, they will have a diminished sanctuary. 3. אור החיים שמות פרק כה פסוק ח ונראה כי אמרו ועשו לי מקדש היא מצות עשה כוללת כל הזמנים בין במדבר בין בכניסתן לארץ בכל זמן שיהיו ישראל שם לדורות, וצריכין היו ישראל לעשות כן אפילו בגליות... 3. Or Ha-Chayim (Chaim Ibn Attar, 18th century) Shemot 25:8 And it seems to me that when the Torah says “and you shall make for me a sanctuary” this is a positive mitzvah that applies at all times, whether in the desert, entering the Land of Israel, and they even need to do so in exile… 4. Encyclopedia Judaica, “Synagogue,” 1st Edition It is to the period of the Babylonian Exile that one must look for the origin of the synagogue. Not only has it been assumed that the Exiles, deprived of the Temple, in a strange land, feeling the need for consolation in their distress, would meet from time to time, probably on Sabbaths, and read the Scriptures, but it is in Ezekiel, the prophet of that Exile, that one finds the first probable references to it… And although, as will be seen, there was an organic relation between Temple and synagogue during the period of the Second Temple, from the moment the Temple was destroyed and in the Diaspora before then, the phrase “little sanctuary” faithfully indicates the role of the synagogue in the thoughts and lives of the people… Although there is no mention of the synagogue in Ezra and Nehemiah and the post-Exilic prophets, it can be assumed that the returned Exiles brought with them the rudiments of that institution to which they had given birth during their exile… It is in the first century C.E., however, that the synagogue suddenly emerges as a well established and ancient institution, the very center of the social and religious life of the people, unrivaled in the Diaspora, and harmoniously cooperating with the Temple in Eretz Israel… With the destruction of the Temple, however, and the consequent automatic cessation of the sacrificial service, the synagogue remained without a rival as the focus and center of Jewish religious life. Many of the customs and rituals of the Temple were deliberately and consciously transferred to the synagogue, and on the other hand, some of these rituals were forbidden just for the reason that they belonged to the Temple and the Temple only. 5. תלמוד בבלי מסכת מגילה דף כט עמוד א ואהי להם למקדש מעט, אמר רבי יצחק: אלו בתי כנסיות ובתי מדרשות שבבבל. 5. Talmud Megillah 29a “Yet I have been to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they have come.” Rabbi Yitzḥak said: This is referring to the synagogues and study halls in Babylonia. 6. תלמוד בבלי מסכת מגילה דף כח עמוד ב אמר רבי אסי: בתי כנסיות שבבבל על תנאי הן עשויין, ואף על פי כן אין נוהגין בהן קלות ראש. 6. Talmud Megillah 28b Rav Asi said: Synagogues in Babylonia are built from the outset with a stipulation that they not have the full sanctity of a synagogue, in order that it be permitted to use them for the community’s general needs. But nevertheless, one should not act inside them with frivolity. 7. משנה מסכת ברכות פרק ט משנה ה לא יקל אדם את ראשו כנגד שער המזרח שהוא מכוון כנגד בית קדשי הקדשים לא יכנס להר הבית במקלו ובמנעלו ובפונדתו ובאבק שעל רגליו ולא יעשנו קפנדריא ורקיקה מקל וחומר. 7. Mishnah Berachot 9:5 One should not act frivolously near the Eastern Gate, because it is in a direct line with the Holy of Holies. One should not enter the Temple Mount with a staff, or with shoes on, or with a wallet, or with dusty feet; nor should one make it a short cut, all the more spitting [is forbidden]. 8. תלמוד בבלי מסכת ברכות דף סב עמוד ב ורקיקה מקל וחומר. אמר רב ביבי אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי: כל הרוקק בהר הבית בזמן הזה - כאילו רוקק בבת עינו, שנאמר והיו עיני ולבי שם כל הימים. אמר רבא: רקיקה בבית הכנסת - שריא, מידי דהוה אמנעל. מה מנעל, בהר הבית - אסור, בבית הכנסת - מותר, אף רקיקה - בהר הבית הוא דאסור, בבית הכנסת שרי. אמר ליה רב פפא לרבא, ואמרי לה רבינא לרבא, ואמרי לה רב אדא בר מתנא לרבא: אדיליף ממנעל, נילף מקפנדריא! - ... אלא אמר רבא: כי ביתו. מה ביתו, אקפנדריא - קפיד אינש, ארקיקה ומנעל - לא קפיד אינש, אף בית הכנסת: קפנדריא הוא דאסור, רקיקה ומנעל - שרי. 8. Talmud Berachot 62b Rav Beivai said that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Anyone who spits on the Temple Mount, even today, it is as if he spit in the pupil of God’s eye, as it is stated: “And My eyes and My heart shall be there perpetually.” Rava said: Spitting in a synagogue is permitted, just as in the case of shoes. Just as wearing shoes is prohibited on the Temple Mount but permitted in a synagogue, so, too, spitting is prohibited on the Temple Mount but permitted in a synagogue. Rav Pappa said to Rava, and some say Ravina to Rava, and some say Rav ada bar Matna to Rava: Instead of deriving this from the case of wearing a shoe, derive it from the case of a shortcut… Rather, Rava said a different reason: The synagogue is like one’s house. Just as one objects to a person using his house as a shortcut, but does not mind spitting and wearing shoes therein, so too in the case of a synagogue, a shortcut is prohibited while spitting and wearing shoes are permitted. II. Beit Ha-Mikdash and Beit Ha-Kenesset: Similar but Different 9. תוספות מסכת מגילה דף כח עמוד ב ודווקא לאותן שבבבל מהני התנאי שהרי לעת בא גואל במהרה בימינו תפקע קדושתן אבל לאותן שבארץ ישראל לא מהני תנאי שהרי קדושתן לעולם קיימת 9. Tosafot Megillah 28b Specifically those in Babylonia can be used under a stipulation, as when Mashiach comes they will lose their sanctity, but those in Israel will have eternal sanctity, so a stipulation won’t work. 10. הר"ן על הרי"ף מסכת מגילה דף ח עמוד א הקשה הרמב"ן ז"ל ... ועוד הקשה כיון דשמעתין מוכחא דבהכ"נ יש בו קדושה דהא אמרינן אוגורא ומשכונא אסור מ"ט בקדושתיה קאי ואמרינן נמי במאי תפקע קדושתיה היאך נמכר והא דבר שראוי לגופו במוקדשין אינו נפדה... ותירץ ז"ל דבהכ"נ עשו אותו כתשמישי מצוה כסוכה ולולב שנזרקין לאחר מצותן ובזמן מצוה יש בהן קדושה של כבוד... ולפיכך בהכ"נ כל זמן שבני העיר רוצין בו נוהגין בו קדושה אפילו בחורבנו שהרי עדיין לא עבר זמן מצותו וראוי לחזור ולבנותו הלכך כשמכרוהו ז' טובי העיר שלא במעמד אנשי העיר אין בני העיר רוצין מן הסתם שתכחש מצותם לגמרי אלא שתחול קדושת בהכ"נ על הדמים אבל כשנמלכו בני העיר למכרו לשתות בו אפילו שכר שרי לפי שעבר זמן מצותו ונפקעה קדושתו ממנו כסוכה ולולב לאחר זמנן... ואין דבריו ברורים אצלי דאי משום בזויי מצוה אתינן עלה וכדאמרינן )שבת דף כב א( אבוהון דכולהון דם בדמים שלא היו מצוה מעולם מאי בזוי מצוה איכא... לפיכך נ"ל דבהכ"נ ודכוותיה כיון שעיקרו עשוי לומר בו דבר שבקדושה הטילו בו חכמים קדושה מדבריהם 10. Ran (Rabbeinu Nissim of Gerona) Megillah 8a Ramban objected, since it is proven that a synagogue has sanctity, how can its sanctity be removed? How can it be sold? It cannot be redeemed! And his resolution is that a synagogue is like a “tashmish mitzvah” like a sukkah or lulav that can be disposed of after the mitzvah, but while they are being used, they have the status of sanctity that requires honor. Therefore, a synagogue, at any point during which the residents of a city wish to use it, we treat it with sanctity even if it is destroyed, since it could be rebuilt; therefore, when it is sold by the leaders without the residents, the residents don’t necessarily want the mitzvah to be completely removed rather they just desire the sanctity of the synagogue to take hold on the money.
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